Very first Leica shot!

[angelptp]

Hey all,

I just recently bought a M6 that had a 35mm ASPH attached to it. I've since sold the 35 and bought a 24mm ASPH instead, but before I did, I took this picture of a friend of mine. This is the third frame in my very first roll - the first two are unmentionable! - and I'm extremely happy with the quality - especially in the out of focus areas. Lovely, lovely camera and lens.

In all honesty, the image has a long way to go, but in my experience the first 10 - 15 rolls of film in a completely new camera are usually pretty poor, so I was very surprised that this worked out as well as it did...

Look forward to contribute more once I've developed some more. I develop my own Tri-X, and scan directly into my computer using a Nikon scanner.

Pete

[angelptp]

And then there is the matter of my son just moments before plunging into the water for his swimming lesson... While both these have been cropped, I haven't played around with the contrast on photoshop - I wanted to display them as they emerged out of my camera!

[tomparis]

Originally Posted by angelptp

While both these have been cropped, I haven't played around with the contrast on photoshop - I wanted to display them as they emerged out of my camera!

Pete, obviously you will have to play around with contrast and other photoshop options. There's no way around that if you want good quality.
The pictures are ok, but the quality is poor. Look at good prints in books and magazines and try to imitate that...
And: you should have kept the 35... With a 24 you can't do that kind of picture anymore...

Thomas

[michael_boylan]

Pete,

Congrats on the M6. You sold a 35 'Cron!!!! Are you mad?

There are quite a few of us here that do our own home cooking and scanning. It can be very rewarding. Looking forward to seeing more.

Cheers

Michael

[abrewer]

Peter, Welcome to the Forum!

Your first steps remind me very much of my own! I was so proud of my new Leica and my ability to operate it (no mean fete after years of automated SLR's)!

One of the quickest ways to master Photoshop is through a plug-in for Photoshop Elements called PhotoKitEl3 from Pixel Genius. Google it and try the demo. I think you'll like the actions and what they do for your photographs.

Keep shooting! Keep posting! Keep improving!

Thanks.

Allan

[giancarlo]

welcome to the forum
benvenuto

[angelptp]

Hey guys,

Thanks for the support - I'm looking forward to seeing and posting much more stuff.

I guess an quick intro may be in order. I'm not exactly new to the photo biz - I started as a cadet photographer back in the early 80s, shooting rock n' roll for a newspaper in Sweden. In those heady days, the Canon F1 New reigned supreme, and I used to drag my skinny carcass around concert venues carrying more stuff on my shoulder than I did on my bones! In my first summer, I toured with U2, Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan, and I knew I was the best photographer in the world.

I've had many cameras since - I bought a Canon T90 when it first came out, and burned enough film to keep Kodak afloat for years. I swapped the whole shebang for an old, crusty M3 with a couple of even older lenses, but never really got the hang of the external light meter, so I sold the whole lot.

I moved in, and out of, the Hasselblad system - both 500 and Xpan - and has maintained a relationship with Nikon over the years.

But, like with most things in life, true beauty lies in the roundness of things. I got tired of automation, of everything that flashes, clicks and zooms. I wanted to go back to my roots, to where I came from - where I decided how the image looks, not the camera. Hence the M6. Yeah, you're right - the pictures suck, but they were made by me, when shooting the very first film with a completely manual camera. It's been years, but, it's been a sort of homecoming.

Talk soon guys. Long live Leica!

[jmr]

Peter,

Welcome to the forum. I thought your brief biography was interesting; keep posting.

[robert_parker]

Look forward to seeing some more - welcome to the forum !!

[icemendicant]

Peter, welcome...

I took the same steps you did only last year, buying a used but lovely M6 and a 50 'cron. Since then I haven't looked back - you are in for a lot of fun!

I would agree with Thomas above that using Photoshop to adjust levels and curves in a scan is very useful to get the most out of your image - after all it is the equivalent of the skills one would use to produce the best print in a traditional darkroom.

Look forward to seeing more of your pictures...

All the best,
Dan

[arne_s]

Ohh, what a mistake.... to sell one of the most interesting lenses for the M....

I think, you see your mistake in your own pictures....

I bought one last year and two weeks ago the Summicron APO 90 ASPH, the perfect duo.

I think, as pain now, you have to buy the Summilux 35 ASPH

Hope you like my little manipulation

This is taken with Summicron 35 ASPH:

[tolled]

"Yeah, you're right - the pictures suck, but they were made by me."

This single sentence is in a nutshell the whole fuel for my motor.
The only way to make photos.
D.

[angelptp]

I've got a 90mm Summicron-M as well, and feel that my 24 will compliment it well. I did like the 35, but for my taste it's too middle of the road. Going on past experience, my tastes like towards the wider glass - my standard lens before Leica was a 20mm. The only one who complained bitterly was my ex-girlfriend, who used to have to tell people that her butt isn't really that big; it's the distortion from the lens... or her nose, feet etc. I've got a couple of portraits on my wall taken with that 20mm lens, and I love the perspective.

Arne, thanks for tweaking the portrait of Theadra - you're right, it is much better. Photoshop is still virgin ground for me, but I'm getting there. Thanks also to all the others who has taken time to welcome me - may this be the beginning of a long union. I'm developing more tomorrow - my second roll!! - and if there is anything on there which is passable, I may bung a couple of shots up here for you guys to have a look at.

Pete

[arne_s]

Hi Pete,

i like your not on "middle of the road" standing. This is mine, too, even in musical taste...
But if you use the 35 instead of a 50 it is not like that.
My favorite is the Summilux 75, i am curious, what i do with the APO 90 ASPH now....

Here you find some with the 75:

http://www.leica-camera-user.com/showthread.php?t=819

Greetings, Arne

[silfver]

Pete, congratulations on your new Leica. Looking forward to seeing more from the next rolls.

Here's by the way another 'take' on your first photo - just to show how many ways there are in PS when it comes to post processing.

[arne_s]

.... your liver...

@ silfver: are you a grain fan?


your gallery at pbase is great

Arne